July 14, 2005

Summer Literacy Institute to focus on English-language learners

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Helping elementary educators support children's language development with a special emphasis on English-language learners will be the focus of the fifth annual Summer Literacy Institute being held at Purdue University.

This year's institute, "Making Connections: Developing Language for All Children," will be July 19-21 at Purdue's Stewart Center and is sponsored by the Purdue Literacy Network Project. It will attract about 250 kindergarten through sixth-grade teachers from Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, Michigan, and as far away as Honduras.

Katrena Leininger, director of the Professional Development Initiative for the Purdue Literacy Network Project and a Reading Recovery teacher-leader, says the institute is highlighting the issue of English-language learners because there are increasing numbers of children enrolling in U.S. classrooms who are from other countries or whose families speak a language other than English at home.

"These students face special challenges because they go into a classroom and are expected to take the same tests and do the same schoolwork as the English-speaking students, but often they don't have the English skills to fully understand what is going on in class," Leininger said.

"It's not that the English-language learners aren't as capable," she said. "It's just that they have difficulties communicating their knowledge."

At the Summer Literacy Institute, teachers will have the opportunity to find answers by listening to experts in the field, as well as by working with other teachers who face similar challenges.

Participants will hear from two keynote speakers who have studied the issue extensively: Lance Gentile, professor emeritus of language and literacy from San Francisco State University, who has researched second-language acquisition and the emotional factors related to language and literacy development; and Josie V. Tinajero, dean of the College of Education at the University of Texas at El Paso and a professor of bilingual education.

This is the first of three years that Cinergy Foundation is providing funds to Purdue to attract keynote speakers to this event.

Also speaking will be several Purdue experts, including Maribeth Schmitt, director of the Purdue Literacy Network Project; Salli Forbes, director of Purdue Reading Recovery; and Sarah Mahurt, director of the Purdue Literacy Collaborative.

Educators will then be divided into four instructional groups: kindergarten through second-grade teachers; teachers of grades three through six; Reading Recovery teachers; and Literacy Collaborative coordinators. Topics for discussion will include oral language development, language as a basis for literacy learning, and the language of literature.

"Teachers have expressed an interest in the English-language learners issue," Leininger said. "They want to know how they can support the development of oral language as these students learn the skills they need to be successful in the classroom. All of us want to help these English-language learners as much as we can.

"The purpose of this year's institute is to give teachers an opportunity to discuss this topic with other teachers who are facing the same issue and come up with some solutions," Leininger said.

The Purdue Literacy Network Project in the College of Education provides professional development for teachers to enable them to create successful school literacy programs for students in elementary grades to assure all children are given the chance to become readers and writers early in their schooling.

The Purdue Literacy Network Project offers three programs for teacher professional development: Literacy Collaborative, Reading Recovery and the Professional Development Initiative.

Literacy Collaborative is a comprehensive, nationwide school reform project started in 1993 designed to improve the reading, writing and language skills of children in elementary school.

Reading Recovery is a program that provides short-term, one-on-one tutoring for low-achieving first-graders to dramatically reduce the number who have difficulty learning to read.

The Professional Development Initiative includes the Summer Literacy Institute, as well as the Professional Development Series, which provides classroom teachers the opportunity to study the theories and best practices of balanced literacy, a method of teaching reading that includes learning about letters, sounds, phonics – as well as reading and writing – to create a richer experience for students.

Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu

Source: Katrena Leininger, (765) 494-2356, georgekl@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Journalists are invited to attend and photograph and video any session during the institute. For more information or a schedule, contact Kim Medaris at (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu.

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